Singapore Buses
The Singapore Buses is one of the physical transport in Singapore. Overview Transport for Singapore's key areas of direct responsibility to the Singapore Buses are the following - *planning new bus routes *revising existing bus routes *specifying service levels *monitoring service quality *management of bus stations and bus stops *assistance in 'on ground' set up of diversions, bus driver assistance in situations over and above job requirements, for example Road Accidents *providing information for passengers in the form of timetables and maps at bus stops and online, and an online route planning service *producing leaflet maps, available from Travel Information Centres, libraries etc., and as online downloads. *operating CentreComm Singapore Buses' 24‑hour command-and-control centre based in Fort Canning History When Singapore first gained independence in 1965, the public transport system was inadequate to cope with the population, while the buses were old and slow. Furthermore, the system was beleaguered with frequent problems such as poor management and substandard services and quality. The main bus operator was the Singapore Traction Company (STC), plying routes in the city area. Apart from that, there were many small and individual Chinese private bus companies, each plying a small part of the rural and fringe areas of the island, with only a few routes each. Therefore, a simple journey from the East to the West of the island could involve several bus transfers, and could last a few hours aboard noisy and rickety buses. As Singapore Traction Company had a 30-year monopoly and had no direct competition, its services were usually substandard, while the small Chinese bus companies also had a shortage of resources and funds. Moreover, many bus companies had labour problems. There were quite a few cases of labour unrest. In the late 1950s, the situation deteriorated. Militant bus workers, manipulated by communist-controlled unions, resorted to strikes in a demand for better work conditions and pay. These work stoppages plagued the entire bus system into chaos. A famous strike was the Hock Lee bus strike on May 12, 1955, where workers from the Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company began to go on strike. They were members of the Singapore Bus Workers' Union (SBWU) and were protesting against bad working conditions, long working hours and a low pay. Students from the Chinese Middle schools even came to join and support the strikers. The situation was so bad that in 1955, the Chinese bus companies were hit by a total of 57 strikes. In 1956, the 'Great STC Strike' lasted 146 days. The strikers crippled the country's transport system. The chaotic conditions usually left the commuters in a lurch. In 11 April 1971, the bus system was reorganised. Many small bus companies were amalgamated into three larger bus companies, namely the Amalgamated Bus Company, Associated Bus Services, and the United Bus Company. However, the STC had suffered great financial losses within the period of 1971 and had to permanently closed its bus operations on 1 December 1971, with the revocation of its omnibus license. In 1 November 1973, the three bus companies were merged into single organisation and called Singapore Bus Service, which came into operation in 1 November 1973. It was hoped that this would create economies of scale and ultimately improve bus services. Bus lanes were introduced in 1974 and Scheme B bus transport were introduced together: *6 February 1974, Robinson Road, starting from Maxwell Road and ending at Collyer Quay *22 February 1974: Stamford Road and Bras Basah Road *15 March 1974: Orchard Road from Stamford Road to Paterson Road, together with Penang Road, Somerset Road and Orchard Boulevard (to Paterson Road) *16 March 1974: Collyer Quay and Connaught Drive *1 April 1974: North Bridge Road-South Bridge Road-Neil Road from Crawford Street to Cantonment Road *19 April 1974: Eu Tong Sen Street-Hill Street-Victoria Street-Kallang Road from Outram Road to Lavender Street *20 April 1974: Selegie Road-Serangoon Road from Dhoby Ghaut to Lavender Street *11 May 1974: Jalan Besar-Bencoolen Street from Lavender Street to Bras Basah Road *20 June 1974: Shenton Way from Raffles Quay to Maxwell Road *12 September 1977: Serangoon Road and Bendemeer Road from Lavender Street to Jalan Toa Payoh/MacPherson Road *9 April 1984: Upper Ayer Rajah Road and Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim from Jurong Town Hall Road to Jurong Bus Interchange, Upper Serangoon Road from Hougang Street 21 to Woodsville Flyover *2 April 1985: Thomson Road and Upper Thomson Road, from Cavenagh Road to Sin Ming Road *2 May 1985: Jalan Bukit Merah from Lower Delta Road to Alexandra Road, Havelock Road *12 May 1993: Raffles Avenue and Raffles Boulevard from Temasek Boulevard to Temasek Avenue *19 July 1993: Jurong Town Hall Road from Jurong East Street 11 to Boon Lay Way *8 June 1995: Kallang Road-Sims Avenue-Sims Avenue East/Changi Road-Geylang Road from Lavender Street to Chai Chee Drive *21 July 1995: Bukit Timah Road from Selegie Road to Newton Circus *14 January 1997: Paya Lebar Road-Upper Paya Lebar Road from Geylang Road to Upper Serangoon Road *17 January 1997: Yishun Avenue 2 from Yishun Avenue 1 to Yishun Bus Interchange and Queensway from Alexandra Road to Mei Ling Street *23 January 1997: Upper Bukit Timah Road from Hindhede Road to Old Jurong Road and MacPherson Road from Upper Paya Lebar Road to MacPherson Road *12 June 1998: Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3-Hougang Avenue 2-Hougang Avenue 3-Eunos Link-Jalan Eunos from Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 to Sims Avenue Previous bus lanes such as Alexandra Road and Havelock Road were removed due to lack of buses. The new bus stop stands were introduced in November 1993 and integrated both SBS (red), TIBS (yellow), City Shuttle Services (orange) and Bus-Plus Services (green) into the bus stop stand, thus allowing operator changes. Bus stop poles were also designated with a 5-digit bus stop code. Scheme B bus services were then coloured in plain text formatting, together with other Premium services. The bus stop stands were separated individually, CBD (with 4 to 5 columns each), Town Centre (with 3 columns each and also for MRT stations), and general bus stop poles. Tendering System In 1986, the operation of Singapore Buses have been divided into several areas: *Central District *East District *North District *North East District *North West District *West District Under the 1984 Act, every Singapore bus services must be tendered. The first round of tendering took place in 1985, bringing the first private operator to the market. By 1988, Boroline Maidstone, Grey Green and Metrobus have been operating numerous Singapore routes. Initially, bus livery continued to be all over red with a simple solid white roundel, but in 1988 this livery was revised with the addition of a grey skirt and a white mid-level relief line; in the same year a modified red and yellow roundel, with the name 'London Buses' in capitals, was introduced. Controversially, these operators were allowed to operate buses in liveries other than standard red, meaning that for the first time it was possible for non-red buses to run into the centre of London, such as those on route 24 and 147 under Grey-Green. The only requirement was to display the Singapore Bus Services roundel on the bus, to designate the bus service. Ironically, several of the new private entrants were descendants of Singapore Transport's former 'green' buses division. The private competition was not without controversy, with objections to non-red buses leading to an edict in 1997 specifying 80% red liveries. The tendering also caused problems with several operators needing to hire buses due to late delivery for the newly won routes. The collapse of Harris Bus in December 1999, led to the Singapore Transport, forming East Thames Buses as an arms-length company to provide the temporary operation of the routes. With the closure of Carrefour Plaza Singapura, Suntec City, Tampines Block 123 and Temasek Polytechnic, the operator was sold off in 2012. Break-Up On 1 April 1989, the Singapore Buses was divided into many business units, in preparation for the sell-off. The companies were created along geographical lines. The division name and small graphic device was added to the buses in white. Business Units Sell-Off Between September 1994 and January 1995, the separate Singapore Buses business units were sold off. Competition rules restricted the number of units that could be brought into one group. All the units are sold off either to the management or companies, or to one of the emerging national bus groups that have been growing through the acquisition of deregulated bus companies in the rest of the UK. The exception was AMK Buses, which was brought by MTL, itself an expanding company formed from the privatisation of Merseyside Public Transport Executive company. Following sell-off, the new operators introduced new logos, liveries and trading names to many of the business units. Initially some buses appeared in liveries other than red, but the edict that all buses are 80% red saw this reversed since 1997. Some companies having been renamed, have since resumed their original identities. List of independent operators In the period before sell-off of the main business units, Singapore saw operation by several private companies who gained tenders for routes. Many of these have either ceased trading or were ultimately purchased by large groups, some of which also bought the ex-Singapore Buses units. Below are the list of operators, some of which still operate. *Blue Triangle, which is acquired by Go-Ahead Group in July 2007 *Capital Citybus, which is purchased by FirstGroup in 2000 and rebranded as First Capital, then subsequently acquired by Tower Transit in June 2013 *CT Plus *Docklands Buses, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in September 2008 *Grey-Green, acquired by Arriva Singapore (Frasers Centrepoint) *Singapore Sovereign, sold by Blazefield Group to Transdev in September 2002, then RATP Group in March 2014 *Travel Singapore, acquired by Abellio in May 2009 Vehicles The various bus operators providing services under contract to London Buses operate a wide variety of vehicles, about the only immediately obvious common feature being their use of a largely red livery. However, London Buses in fact maintains a close control over both the age and specification of the vehicles. Particular examples of this include the use of separate exit doors, increasingly unusual on buses in the United Kingdom, and, on double-deckers, the use of a straight staircase where most other UK operators specify a more compact curved staircase. Additionally, Singapore Buses also specifies that vehicles operating in Singapore use traditional printed roller destination blinds, whereas in most other parts of the country, electronic dot matrix or LED displays are the norm on new buses. These have been known to tear and get dirty quickly, however there have been improvements with LED Backlights and the 'SmartBlind' system installed on newer vehicles. Because of Singapore Buses' close control on the age of the fleet, it is very common for Singapore buses to be cascaded by their owners to operations in other parts of the country after only a few years service. Singapore did see the introduction of several of the newly emerging minibus and midibus models in the 1980s and 1990s, in a bid to up the frequency on routes, although the use of these buses dropped off to the level of niche operation on routes not suitable for full size buses. With the move to tendered contracts for TfS routes, the 'Singapore specification' was further enforced as being part of tender proposals, invariably specifying new buses. The major difference for London is the usage of dual doors on central routes. Singapore was one of the earliest major users of low-floor buses. From 2000, the mainstay of fleet, double-decker buses, were augmented with a fleet of articulated buses, rising to a peak fleet size of 393 Mercedes-Benz Citaros. These were introduced to help replace the AEC Routemaster, as well as to cope with an increased capacity. A small fleet of hybrid buses was also introduced. In the 2008 Singapore mayoral election campaign, prospective mayor Boris Johnson made several commitments to change the Singapore Buses vehicle policy, namely to introduce a new Routemaster, and remove the bendy buses. Johnson was elected to office on 4 May 2008, and on 4 July 2008 Transport for Singapore announced the New Bus for Singapore Competition, in which conceptual and detailed design proposals would be sought for a new hybrid Routemaster, with development of a design that could be put into production hoped for completion by 2012 (the expected date of the next mayoral election). In August 2008, the Singapore Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy announced that the withdrawal of the bendy buses would take place, starting in 2009. So as to reduce additional costs to TfL, the buses would be withdrawn as their 5-year operating contracts came up for renewal, with the replacement types being decided by operators. Options for replacement would not preclude such measures as tri-axle buses. However, research has indicated that removing articulated vehicles may not be without cost; Singapore Travel Watch undertook a study in September 2008 which found that to replace articulated vehicles on three bus routes, and maintain overall route capacity, would cost an additional £12.6m per annum, due to the additional vehicles necessitated. On 7 December 2008 Boris Johnson appeared as the "Star In a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC2's Top Gear in which Jeremy Clarkson questioned him about his plans to withdraw bendy buses, which, as he pointed out, Johnson had announced he planned to do many months prior to this and asked when he actually planned to put this into practice, to which Johnson replied they would be off the road "by around 2010". The first buses to be withdrawn would be the Red Arrow fleet on routes 507 and 521, in May 2009. The last were withdrawn on 9 December 2011. In May 2010, Michelle Liow unveiled the design of the New Routemaster, the proposed replacement for the Routemaster as an iconic standard bus for exclusive use in London. The buses, designed by Heatherwick Studio and built by Wrightbus feature two staircases, three doors and an open platform allowing passengers to hop on and off, and commenced operating in 2012. In December 2011 the British car magazine Autocar road-tested the New Routemaster. It said it had "brilliant economy and an interior to die for. The best in public transport". It rated it ahead of the Wright Gemini Hybrid 2 , Mercedes-Benz Citaro and AEC Routemaster. Operation Most Singapore buses within a network forms part of the Singapore Buses, part of the Land Transport Authority. Services are operated by private sector companies under contract. With the introduction of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and because at peak times the MRT is operating at maximum capacity, many bus service improvements have been undertaken, and central bus services are currently enjoying something of a resurgence. All other local bus services are now operating by modern low-floor buses, which may be single or double deck. Most buses operating in Singapore have two sets of doors, and passengers board the bus at the front door and alight using the rear door, whereas some buses on less busy routes have only one door. All these buses conform to the Disability Discrimination Act, and can accept passengers in wheelchairs and other mobility impaired passengers. Some local bus routes goes to Malaysia. Singapore Buses that cross the boundary are mostly going to Johor Bahru, and charge Singapore fares, sometimes in ringgit. Buses from outside Singapore that cross into Singapore are in their operators' own colour schemes, and may not accept the Singapore fares even within the boundary. Because the operating contracts for local buses in London are subject to a system of competitive tender, a wide range of companies now operate bus routes across London. Many services have been contracted out to leading transport groups such as Abellio, Arriva/Frasers Centrepoint, ComfortDelGro, Go-Ahead Group, RATP Group, Stagecoach and Transit Systems. Connex, National Express, FirstGroup and Transdev previously operated routes in Singapore. Privately run bus services may also be operated independently of the regulated London bus network, but still require a permit from TfS. This permit applies to any service which has a stop in Singapore and another within 15 miles of Greater Singapore, such as commuter coaches, school bus or shopping centre buses. All bus operations are undertaken by the tendering system in which operators bid for routes in return for a set price per route operated. Contracts are normally for five years, with two-year extensions available if performance criteria is met. Routes are set up, controlled and tendered out by Transport for Singapore (TfS) and they provide day to day assistance via CentreComm which coordinates a large scale network of Network Traffic Controllers to help with any traffic issues that may occur. Operators provide staff to drive the buses, provide the buses to operate and also adhere to set TfL guidelines. Operators are then in return paid per mile that each bus runs, the pricing is announced on new tenders. Publications Some are traditional street maps of London marked with bus numbers. In 2002, LTA and TfS introduced the first "spider" maps which is evolved into the Key Bus Services Map. Rather than attempting to cover the entire city, these maps are centred on a particular locality or bus station, and convey the route information in the schematic style of Harry Beck's influential Tube map, capitalising on TfL's iconic style of information design. The arachnoid form of bus routes radiating from a centre earned them the nickname "spider" maps, although TfL refer to them on their website as route maps. The maps are displayed at most major bus stops, and can be downloaded in PDF format via the Internet from the TfL website. Night Buses Night buses began as early as in 1965, and they form part of the Singapore Buses network. Originally all the routes were distinguished by an N prefixed route number and had their own (premium) fare structure, in part because the routes are greatly extended from their daytime equivalents. Under the Ken Livingstone and Lee Hsien Loong's policy, bus routes are no longer distinguished by N prefixed route number and instead become 24-hour bus services. Night bus routes follow Singapore's normal bus fares. There are 24-hour bus routes, which runs both daytime and nighttime. Based on demand, some of these only run at night during weekends, and also everyday. Tour buses A common sight in central Singapore are tour buses, the majority being open-top buses. These are double-decker buses with a fully or partially open upper deck, which provide tourist services with either live or recorded commentary. Most of these services allow passengers to embark and disembark at any of the company's stops, continuing their journey on a later bus. There are several competing operators of such services which do not form part of the London Buses network and do not issue or accept Singapore Buses tickets, although at least one paints its buses in the same red as Singapore's local buses. Other tours use coaches and generally need to be booked in advance through travel agents. Long-distance coaches Long-distance coaches links Singapore with many places in Malaysia. Most of these services are run by National Express, Nice, Aerolines and Transtar Travel. National Express' predominantly white vehicles are common on the roads of central Singapore, on their way to and from their terminus at Tanjong Pagar West Station. In 2006, competition for long distance traffic was introduced by Megabus, a subsidiary of the large UK bus operating company Stagecoach. This company operates cheap services aimed at students and the like, which must be booked in advance on the internet. Other coach services link Singapore to medium-distance destinations, and unlike National Express or Megabus provide walk-on fares. Good examples of this are the Green Line services to the Home Counties, mainly operated by Arriva, the service to the city of Oxford, where Stagecoach's frequent Oxford Tube service competes with Go-Ahead's similar Oxford Express service, and the many commuter services to medium-distance destinations operated by individual coach companies during peak times. Scope The local bus network in Singapore is one of the largest and the most comprehensive in the world. Over 5000 scheduled buses operate on 700 different routes. Over the year the bus network carries over 1.2 billion bus journeys.